Review for Boss Micro BR

 REVIEW FOR BOSS MICRO BR

Hello there, all musicians, (and I do mean ALL MUSICIANS for this one). Losey here with another fantastic product! Today, I am reviewing on the MICRO BR by BOSS. Do not be put off by its dimunuitive size because this nifty piece of machinery is one of the best products that Roland has come out with. The MICRO BR is a handy little 4-Track recorder with 8 V-Tracks in each of the tracks, (which means that you can get 32 V-tracks altogether.) Whether you are a musician on the go and need some time to record something or else you are wanting to record some songs but do not have the money to spend on recording equipment then the MICRO BR is perfect for you. With its small, compact sleek metal design, this recorder will rock your world by how versatile and portable it is.

It has a headphone input, a USB port so you can import all your tracks onto your computer or you can download mp3's or even backing tracks from the computer and onto the MICRO BR and jam along with them.

It also has a master volume dial, a plugin for the AC adapter, a guitar input, a line in/mic input, and an input volume level dial specifically for the guitar input so you can control the instruments volume without having to lower the other instruments. It also takes two AA batteries in the back. And another thing, the MICRO BR comes with a free 128 MB memory card that also goes in the back. Any size memory card can be used, from 56 to one gigabyte.

The best thing about this product is its versatility. It has 80 preset patches ranging from clean amp tones, overdriven tones, maximized distorted tones! You can have rock sounds, blues sounds, country sounds, reggae sounds, jazz sounds, metal sounds, almost anything! And that is not all, you can even customize the sounds by tweaking the preamp and speaker simulator. Also, it includes a noise reducer for that unwanted humming and buzzing.

It also comes with an assortment of effects based off the BOSS pedals like compression, chorus, flanger, phaser and tremolo/pan. You can even tweak the effects to your desired sound.

Another great thing about the MICRO BR is that it has over 300 drum machine samples ranging from rock, hard rock, metal, pop, funk, blues, and a lot more along with a metronome and over 30 different time signatures to play with, like 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, and 6/8 to name a few. Even odd time signatures like 7/8, 5/4, 3/1 and 8/2. And to add to this, you can even choose from a variety of different drumkit sounds whether it is just a regular room drumkit, a hard sounding drumkit, a jazz drumkit, even hip-hop, reggae, techno, and more.

Remember this, just because it is small, it does not mean the sound is, if you get my drift! All of the patches, presets, drum machines, effects are all high quality sounding and you will not be disappointed.

Not a guitarist? Not a problem! The MICRO BR has a few set bass guitar patches in it that are specifically designed for a nice, tight bass sound, whether you like it clean or overdriven. And you can even use some of the guitar patches with your bass. Another great thing about this is that you can use it with keyboards as well. Just plug in from your keyboard and into the input jack and you are good to go. Although, if you are using the keyboards, you may want to experiment with the patches and settings to get a good sound.

Another great feature to go along with this is the built-in microphone, which is located on the face of the BR. Just press the 'INPUT' button, select the 'MIC' setting and you are good from there! And just like the guitar presets, the 'MIC' setting even has its own preset patches and they can be tweaked as well.

Of course, every excellent product has to have its downsides. One of them is the fact that it is somewhat complicated to use for the first time. The best advice is to just experiment on the patches, the effects and the other features on it, have fun and go crazy with them and eventually you will figure out how it works.
Although it does use two AA batteries, it will use them up quickly. The best advice to follow on this is to purchase the AC adapter if you plan on using it all the time like I do.

Tweaking the sounds and customizing your settings on this is a lot of fun but the problem with this is that when you shut it off, you will lose those settings. Also, it will not remember the drum machine tempo that you set it on.

This is the MICRO BR by BOSS. One of the best and one of the most versatile recording tools that you can get your hands on. I personally own this and use it to record my guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals and I have been able to make some pretty decent songs out of it. I would give this a 9.5 out of 10 and if you are thinking about getting something to record but do not have a lot of money to spend on some fancy equipment, I would highly recommend getting the MICRO BR. The price ranges from $220 - $270 depending on where you purchase it.

For more information, visit www.rolandus.com. Thank you for reading this. This is Losey and I will see you on the next review.